The Brookhaven High Panthers passed their first Region 3-5A test on Friday with a 32-14 win over the visiting Florence Eagles on King Field.

The performance by the home team wasn’t perfect, but it was clear from the start that BHS was the better team and in the second half they kept applying pressure after only leading 17-14 at halftime.

Last season Florence took first in the region by beating Ole Brook in Rankin County and handing BHS its only division loss of the season.

Brookhaven High and coach Tucker Peavey have a road region game next week at Provine (1-6). BHS will be back at home after that for back-to-back division games on King Field against South Jones (5-2) and North Pike (1-5). The South Jones game will serve as homecoming at Ole Brook on Oct. 25.

The regular season wraps up with a Thursday night region road game for the Panthers at Natchez (5-2) on Nov. 7.

The BHS offense came out hot on the opening possession Friday, gashing Florence for big gains and then capping the drive off with a 15-yard touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Jaden Allen.

Florence answered with an efficient drive of its own to tie the score at 7-7. Junior quarterback Kayne Ashley better be glad that he plays at a MHSAA 5A program like Florence, because at 6-foot-4 and over 220 pounds, they’d have him lining up at left tackle were he at a smaller sized school.

Ashley used a play action pass on that first drive to find a wide open receiver in the endzone for the first Florence touchdown of the game with 6:23 remaining in the first quarter.

Operating most of the night out of a shotgun formation with an unbalanced line and a trio of receivers split out wide, Florence was most dangerous offensively when they picked up yardage on first down and were able to keep the BHS defense guessing.

As the game progressed, the Panther defenders had great success in pressuring Ashley on obvious passing downs.

Brookhaven High senior linebacker William Buie came crashing in towards Ashley on one of those obvious passing downs for a play that ended the first quarter. Buie knocked the ball loose, but Florence recovered and was able to get off a punt to start the second quarter.

Junior EJ Ratliff caught the ensuing punt and flew down the home sideline for an electric 70-yard touchdown return that got the Ole Brook fans on their feet.

Ratliff was sprung on the return by a big block early thrown by fellow junior Dreamus Harron Jr., who was lined up beside him deep as twin returners.

Harron Jr. plays defensive back and wide receiver and also punts for the Panthers. The first BHS punt of the night had a botched snap that slowly rolled in the hands of Harron Jr. A Florence defender arrived at the punter just as the ball did. Harron Jr. never panicked and kept his eyes up field, sprinting towards his left as he got the kick for a decent distance while under pressure to avoid what could have been a disastrous turnover.

A 34-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Isaac Iles put the Panthers up 17-7 later in the second quarter. Then sophomore defensive end Derwin Fields sacked Ashley for a huge loss, giving the Eagles 4th-and-Wesson for a first down, and it looked like BHS was ready to push the lead out to a larger margin. Fields and senior defensive tackle Christian Jones were a nuisance for the Florence offensive line all night.

The momentum created by the defense quickly vanished, as a lost fumble at midfield gave the ball back to the Eagles and Florence suddenly found success running plays to the perimeter. A 10-yard touchdown run by Cortland Battee on a jet sweep pulled the Eagles to within 17-14 following the turnover.

The second half started with an inspired 3-and-out by the BHS defense. Iles kicked another field goal, this one from 32-yards, on the following possession and BHS led 20-14.

On the ensuing kickoff, BHS freshman linebacker Hampton Smith barreled into the Florence return man, forcing a fumble that appeared to be recovered by Buie at the Eagle 24-yard line.

Two long runs by Allen quickly moved the Panthers to first and goal from the 9-yard line. Consecutive penalties for BHS then moved the ball back to the 19-yard line for 1st-and-goal from there.

Harron Jr., who’s played plenty of quarterback during his career, spelled Allen as signal caller on first down and perfectly read the defense as he ran straight ahead and with great effort to score on the 19-yard rush. The 2-point conversion attempt failed, but it felt like the Panthers were close to having the game in hand with a 26-14 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Harron Jr. had a punt downed at the 14-yard line. He then intercepted Ashley later on the drive and returned it back down to the Florence 12-yard line.

It was quite the night for the junior who’s also a standout pitcher for BHS baseball.

“Dreamus has been a ball player for us all year,” said Peavey after the game. “Whatever we’ve asked him to do, he’s gotten it done and you’ve got to tip your cap to him.”

The following drive for Florence after the touchdown run by Harron Jr. ended when senior defensive back Rameriaze Edwards picked off a pass for the Panthers, but BHS coughed it up again on a fumble just two plays later to give the ball back to the Eagles.

“We made it too hard,” said Peavey. “Our offense made it real hard for us at times. We’ve got some guys that have got to grow up and understand they’ve got to make plays. Our defense kept giving up good chances and we just kept giving it right back to them.”

The interception and return by Harron Jr. in the fourth quarter set up the final BHS score of the night,  a short rushing touchdown by junior Caiden Quarles with 7:03 remaining in the game.

Florence falls to 3-2 with the loss and will host North Pike next week.